The 140th Canton Fair closed on Nov.4 with 352,000 overseas buyers from 219 countries, a record in its 70-year run and up 12.2 percent from the previous session. It began in 1957 with just over 1,200 visitors. Today more than 32,000 exhibitors show 4.88 million products, 64 percent carrying AI or industrial internet technology, with new and green goods at record shares. One Colombian buyer put it plainly: no online platform replaces this fair.